Hancock's Half Hour (1956)
Hancock's Half Hour is a BBC radio comedy, and later television comedy, series of the 1950s and 60s written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The series starred Tony Hancock, with Sid James; the radio version also co-starred, at various times, Moira Lister, Andrée Melly, Hattie Jacques, Bill Kerr and Kenneth Williams. The final television series, renamed simply Hancock, starred Hancock alone. Comedian Tony Hancock starred in the show, playing an exaggerated and much poorer version of his own character and lifestyle, Anthony Aloysius St John Hancock, a down-at-heel comedian living at the dilapidated 23 Railway Cuttings in East Cheam. The series was influential in the development of the situation comedy, with its move away from radio variety towards a focus on character development.
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Episode 1 - The Continental Holiday
Release Date: 1957-09-30Hancock has been on holiday abroad and he tells Sid of his exploits in which he foiled an international gang of smugglers.
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Episode 2 - The Great Detective
Release Date: 1957-10-07Hancock dreams of becoming the great detective 'Sexton Hancock' and proceeds to unravel a complicated murder plot.
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Episode 3 - The Amusement Arcade
Release Date: 1957-10-14Sid has set up an amusement arcade, but when Hancock finds out he leads a campaign to have it closed down. Meanwhile, Hancock seeks election to the Council but when Sid's arcade is closed down he moves it... to Hancock's house!
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Episode 4 - A Holiday in Scotland
Release Date: 1957-10-21Hancock is told by the doctor he must get fit. But when Hancock takes an unwilling Sid on a hunting holiday to Scotland, they get snowed in.
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Episode 5 - Air Steward Hancock - The Last of the Many
Release Date: 1957-10-28Hancock takes on a new job as an air steward. But when one of the passengers on his first flight is Sid who is on the run from the police, and the other passengers include four police officers looking for a bank robber, Hancock's first landing doesn't go quite as expected!
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Episode 6 - The Regimental Reunion
Release Date: 1957-11-04Hancock, a junior clerk in a City office for 19 years, receives a promotion when his army friends, who met at a reunion, place large orders with the firm. However, they are all fraudulent orders and Sid has the takings!
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Episode 7 - The Adopted Family
Release Date: 1957-11-11Hancock needs to get to the top of the waiting list for a Council House but to do this he needs a wife and four children. So he adopts Sid and four of his mates, but then he can't get rid of them!
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Episode 8 - The Elocution Teacher
Release Date: 1957-11-25Famous actor Jack Hawkins takes elocution lessons with Hancock and is reduced to being the leader of a rock-and-roll group.
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Episode 9 - The Lawyer - The Crown vs Sidney James
Release Date: 1957-12-02Hancock becomes a lawyer but when he defends an obviously guilty Sid James in court he finds himself the subject of a guilty verdict!
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Episode 10 - Competitions - How to Win Money and Influence People
Release Date: 1957-12-09Hancock takes up entering newspaper competitions as a full time job. When he wins a few competitions, he is foolish enough to trust Sid to look after the money.
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Episode 11 - There's An Airfield At the Bottom of My Garden
Release Date: 1957-12-16Hancock buys a house from Sid but discovers that there's an airfield at the bottom of his garden! Returning to Sid dissatisfied, he is forced to try to sell the house himself but he has considerable difficulties, some of them unscripted! This is because the set was designed to fall apart at a given point in the script but unfortunately, the set starts to fall apart too early and Hancock is forced to improvise!
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Episode 12 - Hancock's 43 Minutes - The East Cheam Repertory Company
Release Date: 1957-12-23A complete departure from the usual show. Hancock presents his own variety show from the Television Theatre - but he has asked Sid to provide all the acts!